


Everything Has Changed

by orbitaemin



Category: SHINee
Genre: 2min - Freeform, Multi, jongkey - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-01-31 09:16:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21443818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orbitaemin/pseuds/orbitaemin
Summary: highschool aumain ships: 2min; jongkey;
Relationships: 2min, JongKey
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

_Running aimlessly Taemin tripped on something, his eyes so tear stained that his vision was foggy, not being able to see what he had tripped on. Suddenly, he felt pain on his back, someone had kicked him. *bang* that's all he heard as he fell to the ground. Carefully raising his head, he saw a tall mean looking boy, who once more kicked him, this time in his stomach._

_'What's going on? Why is he doing this to me? Does my presence annoy him?' Taemin thought as the taller got a grip of his hair, pulling his head back._

_"You stupid idiot! You destroyed my castle!" the boy yelled, Taemin looked behind him and noticed a small sandcastle which was now missing a part, it seemed while he was running he had stepped on it, smashing it. 'It wasn't on purpose, maybe if I wasn't a worthless cry baby I would've seen it. Is that the reason I'm getting hit?'_

_"I-I'm sorry, I didn't-" before the smaller had a chance to explain and apologise he was already getting punched in the face._

_"What are you gonna do about it?!" the boy raised his hand, causing Taemin to brace himself for the pain that was about to come._

_"Hey! What are you doing?!" the smaller looked up once more and saw another boy with feline looking eyes, said boy pushed his aggressor off him._

_"What the- Mind your own business!" the bully said, a little shocked that someone had dared to face him, being known to be the strongest kid on the block._

_"You punk! How dare you speak like that to me? And why are you hitting this girl?!" the feline looking boy was a tad taller than him, but not as tall as the bully making Taemin worry that his new saviour would get beaten because of him, despite this though the boy sounded fierce, making him a bit scared to be on his bad side. His thoughts suddenly got interrupted as he realised the boy had just called him a girl._

_"I'm not a girl!" He rushed to say, he hated when people made this mistake, he was nothing but a child but already felt insecure, causing his to begin crying once more. Why couldn't he just control his feelings? He hated himself, why was it that in every situation in which he got mildly stressed he couldn't help but cry. What would happen now? Would the boy suddenly change and make fun of him as well, teaming up with his new found bully to beat him up. Would he get called a cry baby again?_

_Seeing this, his saviour change expression, going from fierce to showing nothing but worry and regret._

_"I'm really sorry, please don't cry!" as the bully was still shaken and staring, the feline looking boy simply hugged the smaller, causing Taemin to get confused. Why was he being hugged? Nobody ever reacted this way._

_Noticing that he was now being ignored, the bully was filled with fury once more. "Hey I'm still here!" he added as he got ready to attack again._

_"Yeah, and I don't know why you are." his saviour replied, giving him a deadly glare. At this, Taemin wasn't the only one that felt chills running down his spine, the bully must have also thought the sight was not pleasing as he suddenly left, tripping while running away. The other suddenly turned to Taemin, looking at him, noticing how pretty the smaller was, making him feel like he was supposed to protect him from all evil._

_"Are you okay?" he asked, his gaze no longer deadly, but warm instead, making Taemin feel safe, just like he did when his mother came to comfort him._

_"Y-yes, thank you for...helping me." he replied still sobbing but soon beginning to calm down. As he did, he was reminded that he still did not know the name of the boy who had been so kind as to save him. "Ah sorry, but what's your name?"_

_The boy smiled at him. "My name is Kibum, but you can just call me Key. What's your name?"_

_"Taemin. My name is Taemin."_

_"Nice to meet you Taemin! Now, why was that stupid kid beating you?"_

_"I ah...I stepped on his castle while I was running... But it wasn't on purpose, I swear! I was crying so I couldn't see where I was going and-" upon realising that he had just told Key he was crying, he started worrying once more about what he would think, his self-cautious self was already stressed from the previous events of his day, the small boy was a mess and he knew it. Scared he felt his tears coming back, threatening to fall._

_"Why were you crying? I know you just met me, but you can trust me, I promise to help you the best I can!" key smiled widely, grabbing the smaller's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Taemin looked down at his hand being held and bit his lower lip, something he used to do whenever he was thinking or simply anxious. He gave it some thought, trying to decide if he should trust the boy and tell him what was going on deep in his mind. He figured that since the boy had rescued him, he didn't have anything to lose and so, he took in a breath before looking up._

_"My mommy and daddy were fighting and I overheard dad say he was going to take Hara with him and I jus- I jus- I just can't live without Hara, she's all I got!" the tears that were threatening to fall finally do, causing his words to sound shaken as he tried to speak in between sobs. He couldn't even bare the thought of losing Hara._

_Seeing the boy struggle so much, he gave him a strong and warm hug, wanting nothing more than to ease the smaller. "Taeminnie don't cry, I'm sure your daddy won't take her away...but who is Hara?"_

_"Oh, Hara is my little sister!" Seeming as if he forgot all his pain he smiled widely, causing Key to think Hara must be his source of comfort and will to keep fighting. He smiled a bit to himself as well as he heard Taemin talk his sibling enthusiastically. "She is really cute and tiny, she is so silly and she always makes me smile!" Taemin sighed as he thought about her, his smile fading a bit as he looked at Key with worry in his eyes. "That's why I don't want daddy to take her away... It's my fault as well..."_

_"What is and why?"_

_"I-" Taemin started speaking but suddenly cut short, biting his lip once more. Key took notice of this and held his hand again as if silently asking for him to go on. "Because I asked Santa if I could go to a dance school, but it's really expensive...Mommy thinks we should work hard to make sure I can go but daddy says it's a waist of time...and something about dancing not being for boys like me...Daddy wants to me to be manly and strong so he gets mad if I cry... I shouldn't have asked to go, but mommy always tells me and Hara we should follow our dreams, and my dream is to dance. I shouldn't have said anything, I'm just selfish..."_

_Despite Key being the same age as Taemin, his mom had always told him about parents not letting their children do what they wanted due to it not being appropriate and so, Key had always been told to fight against this. He didn't know who his dad was, but he never felt the need to have one because his mom was more than enough, he loved her dearly._

_"Taeminnie, it's not your fault! You aren't selfish to ask for something like that!" hearing his words Taemin's eyes filled with hope, as if they were stars shinning brightly._

_"Really?"_

_"Yes! And you know what, it's official" Key used his free hand to press his own chest and nod his head slightly "I'll take care of you and make sure you are never running around crying all by yourself, you can just come to me instead and I'll give you lots and lots of hugs!"_

_Taemin smiled widely at these words, his eyes looking as if they had formed two crescent moons._

_"Thank you so much Key!" He gave the taller a big hug, feeling safe and loved in his hold, despite just meeting him. He somehow knew he could count on him, the presence of tears no longer staining his face._

"Taemin~, Taemin~, TAEMIN!" He could feel something on top of him, calling for his name, but he was so warm under the covers of his bed that he simply didn't want to get up. 'I'll just sleep for 5 more minutes' he thought to himself as he snuggled further against his pillow.

Suddenly, said pillow was taken away from beneath his head and he felt his head fall against the bed somewhat harshly before he was hit in the head with it.

"Taemin you need to wake up or we're going to be late for school!" At these words Taemin quickly opened his eyes to check the time. It was 7:40AM. He widened his eyes and turned his head quickly to look at Hara, who is still sitting on his back, her arms crossed.

"Shit! We're going to miss the bus! Why didn't you wake me earlier?!"

At this Hara rolls her eyes and laughs quietly. "I've been trying to for half an hour."

"Okay okay don't panic, go put on your uniform while I take a quick shower!" He says in a rush as he pushes the girl off him, carefully as not to be harsh. He gets up quickly, causing him to feel slightly dizzy, he started rubbing his temples as to soothe it. Hara simply smiled cheekily before replying to her older brother.

"I already did. I'm gonna make breakfast while you do that." She kissed his cheek and left the room, her ponytail bouncing as he walked out happily, humming a tune to herself.

Once his head felt better, he rushed the bathroom, taking off his clothes and turning on the water. As he stepped inside he felt his muscles relax under as the warm water hit his skin. He took this chance to think about the dream he just had, he missed key. It had been 10 years since he left with his mother to the UK and although he wanted to see him desperately, he couldn't be happier with how his life was at the moment.

He soon got out of the shower and put his uniform on quickly, it consisted of a white shirt with a red tie and a navy blue sweater vest, along with some navy blue pants and white shoes, matching with the white shirt, it was similar to his sisters, although instead of a tie she used a bowtie and instead of pants, he had a skirt and navy blue stockings.

He walked downstairs as fast as he could, meeting his younger sister, who had just finished making a toast for him, already having drank a cup of coffee, which unlike Taemin, she loved.

Hara had grown happily into a beautiful girl, just like Taemin she shared his passion for music and scary movies. Their parents weren't home often as they worked far, even from each other, often sleeping in hotels to avoid rushing home late at night only to leave very early in the morning.

With a smile on his face, he gave his sister a hug and grabbed a toast.

"Taemin you should eat more!" Hara said, pouting, as she saw her brother was already grabbing his backpack and putting on his shoes.

"Don't worry Koala, I'll eat more once we get to school, now come on, we need to catch the bus!" Taemin grinned as Hara frowned hearing her childhood nickname, but before she could even protest her brother grabbed her hand and ran out the door with her.

This was a new year of school, and with a new year comes a fresh start and new possibilities. Who knows what the year had in store for the Lee siblings.


	2. Homeroom

For some miracle the siblings actually made it in time for the bus. They rushed inside and Hara went to find them empty seats as Taemin stayed behind to pay for their tickets. As she walked Taemin noticed some lustful looks from man, it made his "big brother" alarm fire off. It was disgusting that old man were looking at his sister in such a way. She was beautiful, but her beauty brought along consequences. Girls envied her and guys craved her. He quickly shot daggers at them with his eyes, as he walked to sit next to his sister. He noticed some girls looking at him, biting their lips, which made him chuckle, 'if only they knew'.

As he finally sat down, Hara looked up and smiled. "You know, it's your fault we almost lost the bus on our first day." She laughed quietly and crossed her arms. "Did you even bring the paper we needed so we could get our bus student pass so we don't have to keep paying all the time?"

"Oh shit, I knew I forgot something. What should we do now? The deadline is today, I need to find some time to maybe get off school and come back home, but that sounds impossi-" His speech was cut off by her laugh. He didn't get it, how could she be laughing at a time like this.

"Taemin you always forget everything, what kind of sister would I be if I didn't get it for us?" She smiles and hands him the paper that she must've kept in her pocket, making Taemin sigh in relief.

He lightly flicks her forehead and she fakes a pount, he has known her since he was two years old and she still thinks he can't see behind her attempts to get away with things by using her cuteness. "Lee Hara. Do you want me to have a heart attack on our first day of school? Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Sorry~" she says while trying to act cute once more, laughing as her big brother simply shakes his head.

"You're lucky you are cute and I love you, I can't stay mad at you." Taemin adds before flicking her forehead once more, with a bit more strength this time, causing her to rub it and glare at him.

"Ah! I almost forgot to tell you, you can't stay out late today. Mom and dad will be home from work early, so we have to be home by 5PM" Hara says before leaning against his shoulder.

"Really? That sucks, I wanted to hangout with Jonghyun today, I guess I'll have to reschedule. But don't worry, I'll be there on time." He sighs and nods, looking out the window, before properly thinking about what Hara just told him. Whenever his parents are home together they always start fighting and yelling. He doesn't know how they are still together, they look like they hate each other so much... Hara seems to have figured out what he was thinking due to his frown, her face falls and it breaks his heart. She shouldn't have to live like this, she should live in a nice quiet home with a loving family.

"They'll probably start fighting again...I hate it." Taemin looks at Hara as she speaks and he can tell she has tears forming in her eyes. Wanting to comfort her he plants a kiss on her cheek and rubs her arm soothingly.

"Don't worry, if they start doing that I'll take you to our hide out and I'll teach you a new dance I learned, is that okay?" her face lights up immediately at the thought and she smiles happily. Despite not being able to go to a dance school like he wanted to, he still worked hard and had managed to become quite good, dance had always been in him. He was lucky to have found a friend like Jonghyun who supported him and even allowed himself to comply to Taemin's requests and dance with him from time to time, the two, along with Hara were quite good, but Taemin was always the one that shined the most, looking extremely pleased and at peace whenever he had a chance to perform. Of course he still did so in secret because if his father found out he would kick him out, his father wasn't a bad man per se, but he was still caught in the traditional ways of his own parents.

"Really? Thank you thank you thank you, I love you so much!" Hara replied in pure bliss, hugging her brother tightly. After the day Taemin met Key he started to take Hara with him whenever their parents fought, Key was very fond of her as well. Taemin would teach her how to dance and the three of them would explore new places, trying their best to ignore every problem that existed in the world. Key gave him the strength to do it and he liked to think it helped Hara have a happier childhood.

They finally got off the bus, that had been caught up in traffic for quite some time, and checked the time. They need to run if they wanted to get to school on time.

"We have 5 minutes to get to school!" Taemin shouted and looked at Hara causing even her to panic slightly.

"Shit, we have to hurry!" she replied with wide eyes.

"LEE HARA, DON'T SWEAR!" Taemin yells as his sister grabs his hand and starts running, pulling him along. "

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT, LET'ST JUST GO!" she yelled back, her voice a tad shaken from running. Taemin decided it was best to let it pass this time, he would scold her later...then again, he couldn't really blame her as she must've gotten the habit from hanging around him, and he got it from his father. He didn't want her to catch on that habit as well, so he would give her a lecture every time she cussed, it must've been working because the girl rarely did so.

As they finally reached the school Taemin spotted his best friend, casually leaning against the gates.

"Jonghyun? Why are you still here?" the other simply looked up with a cheeky smile as he heard Taemin.

"You're late. Everyone's inside already. I was of course, waiting for you."

Taemin's eyes widened at the thought of being late for school, Jonghyun didn't care, but Taemin couldn't dare slack off or all hell would break lose once he got home.

Hara seemed to be the voice of reason as she tugged on the sleeve of her already-panicking-sibling.

"Taemin~, calm down. As long as we make it in time for homeroom it doesn't matter if people are already inside. Nobody is guarding the gates yet, so we aren't late." at his sister's words Taemin indeed calmed down, nodding, before looking at the other two.

"Alright, I just have one question for the two of you." They looked at each other and then back at Taemin. The confused look on their faces at Taemin's sudden calmness wouldn't last long.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE WE STILL DOING HERE?" they both jumped a little at Taemin's sudden yell, but he was right, they were wasting time. At this they all agreed that it was best to run inside to their respective classrooms so they would make it on time.

Once they made it, they quickly bid farewell to Hara since she was a year behind them and both Taemin and Jonghyun were in the same class. The two friends went a floor up and started looking for their class room. They were in class 3-1, and as soon as they slid the door open they immediately noticed some stares from girls checking them out like they were some sort of prey, and guys clicking their tongues before turning to look away. Being the playboy that is known to be, Jonghyun gave the girls a smirk, causing them to get flustered.

"The homeroom teacher isn't here yet, I'm glad we made it on time." Taemin said, distracting Jonghyun from his thoughts. He nodded and looked around before spotting a familiar face sitting by the window.

"Oh! Onew! I didn't know we were in the same classroom!" Jonghyun smiled cheekily and went to the bunny looking boy, patting him in the back as said boy looked back, recognizing Jonghyun.

Taemin gave Jonghyun a confused look but followed his friend to the unknown figure. He looked kind of nerdy, his hair long and similar to a bowl cut, although a bit more stylish. He just had this aura that made him look smart.

"Taemin, this is Onew, his parents are friends with mine and I used to hang out with him before he moved to a different block." Taemin smiled and greeted Onew warmly.

"Onew, this is Taemin, he has been my best friend since you left, you bastard."

"I'm so so sorry Jonghyun." Onew replied playfully. "Nice to meet you Taemin, my real name is Jinki but everybody just calls me Onew instead. I hope Jonghyun hasn't been much a pain in the ass as he used to be." He added as he glared at Jonghyun with a smirk, making him look a bit less nerdy in Taemin's opinion.

"HEY! What do you mean I was a pain in the ass?! This guy seriously." Jonghyun talks back, looking a bit annoyed, but the three knew he was just being playful. He heard Taemin laugh at Onew's words, causing him to look back at him. Taemin was covering his mouth with his fist as he always did ever since Jonghyun met him. He didn't know why he did this though, in Jonghyun's opinion Taemin looked the prettiest when he was smiling. Although he had grown into looking more manly he was still prettier than most girls, looking a bit angel like. Jonghyun thought to himself, 'I may be straight as an arrow, but I can still tell when a guy is good looking, and Taemin is just stunning."

"Don't worry Onew, Jonghyun has been the best bro I could ever ask for."

"Bro. That was beautiful." Jonghyun said, jokingly as he made himself look very touched, placing his hand on his chest, leaning back slightly to emphasize it more.

Onew was about to say something when the homeroom teacher finally came in and the three sat down quickly. He sat on the second row, while Taemin and Jonghyun sat right behind him, Jonghyun taking of course his favourite spot, next to the window, as he often just started outside instead of paying attention to class. His grades weren't bad, but they weren't grade, and truthfully Jonghyun didn't care.

Taemin was listening to their teacher attentively before noticing a tall and somewhat buff boy trying to sneak in without being caught. He couldn't see him well, but he giggled quietly as he found the situation amusing. The poor guy would never make it. The tall boy's eyes widened as they met with Taemin's, distracting him from his actions and causing him to hit a table by accident, making a loud screech against the floor, but even as the teacher turns to him and lectures him, his eyes did not leave Taemin's, causing the smaller's face to heat up under his gaze.

The teacher suddenly hit the boy's head. "Pay attention! What's your name? Do you think I'm stupid enough not to catch you?" The boy finally turns to the teacher.

"I'm sorry sir! My name is Choi Minho, please forgive me!" the boy replies as he bows slightly. Taemin finds it kind of cute how such a buff boy could look like this.

"I'll let it slide as it's just homeroom, but don't let it happen again Choi or you will go into detention. Now sit down right there." He says as he points to the table next to Taemin's.

"Yes sir!" he bows again, before making his way to his new seat.

Taemin now finally has the chance to take a good look at his face, and he suddenly blushes. He finds taller to be extremely handsome. Jonghyun smirks and gives Taemin a glare, knowing his type. Taemin notices this and blushes, quickly looking down.

As Minho sits down, he can't help himself and stares at Taemin for most of the time, not even paying attention to their teacher. This causes the smaller to lose focus, knowing such a handsome guy is staring at him makes it hard for him to concentrate.

Jonghyun still has a smirk on his face, wanting nothing more than to tease his best friend and his new crush. He doesn't want Taemin to get just anybody and he won't let just anybody get close to this best friend, but this doesn't mean he can't have some fun. 'At least he has manners.' He thinks to himself, recalling the moment that Minho guy bowed to the teacher. 'I should record this, it's totally a drama situation.' He laughs to himself quietly as to not disturb the class. He then looks at Onew who just happened to be looking back as well, they grin to each other, both finding this equally amusing.

As the homeroom ends, Jonghyun and Onew quite literally push Taemin out of the classroom with a smirk.

"So you have the hots for that Minho guy ha?" Jonghyun says, very amused, as his best friends starts blushing. You can actually see his face getting more and more red, which simply makes Jonghyun want to tease him more.

"C'mon Taemin, we are not blind, you can tell us." Onew adds smirking. Taemin was about to reply when he suddenly hears his little sister call for him, 'right on time' he thinks to himself as he sighs in relief.

"Taemin!" she smiles as she gets close to him, before noticing his red face. "Taemin, why are you so red? Do you have a fever?" she asks, concern written all over her face. She then puts her hand on his forehead, which Taemin quickly shakes off.

"N-no Hara, I'm just tired from...from running! Yeah from running!" Taemin replies very embarrassed as he looks everywhere except her eyes. Before Hara can say something about the obviously fake excuse, Jonghyun and Onew interrupt her with their laughs, Onew laughing so hard he actually falls to the ground. Jonghyun laughs even more at his childhood friend, who has always been very clumsy. Hara looks at Onew and freezes in her spot slightly, Taemin takes notice of his sister's weird behaviour, but just figures it's because she doesn't know him.

"Hara, this is Onew, Jonghyun's childhood friend. Onew this is Hara, my little sister." Onew quickly bows towards her, motion Hara copies although looking a bit lost, which causes the action to be slightly awkward.

"Let's go have lunch, shall we?" Taemin suggests while looking sweetly at his sister, always having a soft spot for her. Hara nods shyly and takes a glance at Onew, but quickly looks down again and sticks close to her brother's side. Taemin is a little confused by this, but he lets it slide as he doesn't want to embarrass his sister any further.

"Yes, let's go, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!" Jonghyun says in all seriousness, getting a weird from Onew.

"Jonghyun, you're always eating. I don't understand how you never get fat." Taemin comments in utter confusion.

At this Jonghyun simply shrugs his shoulders and replies with a casual "Dunno."

They finally start walking towards the cafeteria, Hara still glancing subtly at Onew from time to time, as the boys all take to each other, laughing at this and that, Taemin and Onew already getting along despite only meeting for the first time today.


	3. You Got Me At Hello

_Back at homeroom, Hara's class;_

Hara's homeroom on class 2-4 finished a tad later than her brothers. She thought her teacher was nice and was happy that she was able to meet her friend Hani which she hadn't seen during the holidays since she had gone to another country with her parents. Hara envied her on that, she never got to go on vacations with her family since whenever they started planning it, her mom and dad just ended up fighting with each other and cancelling the whole thing. It couldn't be helped.

'No Hara, you need to be positive, you have Taemin and he is the best brother you could ask for. If it wasn't for him, you would've hit rock bottom years ago.' She thought to herself, quickly shaking her head as if shaking her own thoughts away.

As she left the classroom, she made her way upstairs to meet her sibling, agreeing to meet up with Hani in the cafeteria. She caught a glance of Jonghyun's blonde hair, which definitely wasn't allowed on school grounds, but somehow he had gotten away with it, rumours said he had a special spot on the headmistresses heart, but she didn't understand what that meant so she always shrugged it off.

As she got closer to the place she had previously spotted Jonghyun in she noticed her sibling, causing her to quickly rush to his side.

"Taemin!" she smiled as she got close to him, before noticing his red face. "Taemin, why are you so red? Do you have a fever?" She then puts her hand on his forehead, which Taemin quickly shakes off, causing her to simply stare at him in confusion.

"N-no Hara, I'm just tired from...from running! Yeah from running!" Taemin replies very embarrassed as he looks everywhere except her eyes. Before Hara can say something about the obviously fake excuse, Jonghyun and Onew interrupt her with their laughs, Onew laughing so hard he actually falls to the ground. Jonghyun laughs even more at his childhood friend, who has always been very clumsy. Hara looks at Onew and freezes in her spot slightly, 'he is...so handsome' she thinks to herself as she feels her face getting redder by the second.

"Hara, this is Onew, Jonghyun's childhood friend. Onew this is Hara, my little sister." Onew quickly bows towards her, motion Hara copies although looking a bit lost, flustered about interacting with Onew. She was pretty, but she wasn't popular. Every girl avoided her, scared that for some reason she would med into their relationship, and everybody that tried to approach her was scared off by Jonghyun due to Taemin's instructions, because according to her brother 'They had ill intentions', therefore she wasn't used to this many interactions, which caused her actions to be slightly awkward.

"Let's go have lunch, shall we?" Taemin suggests while looking sweetly at his sister. Hara nods shyly and takes one final glance at Onew, but quickly looks down again and sticks close to her brother's side, hiding from the other, simply looking everywhere but to him.

"Yes, let's go, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!" Jonghyun says in all seriousness, getting a weird from Onew.

"Jonghyun, you're always eating. I don't understand how you never get fat." Taemin comments in utter confusion, this caused Hara to let out a quiet giggle that went unnoticed by every one of them.

At this Jonghyun simply shrugs his shoulders and replies with a casual "Dunno."

They finally start walking towards the cafeteria, Hara still glancing subtly at Onew from time to time, despite promising herself every glance would be final, as the boys all take to each other, laughing at this and that, Taemin and Onew already getting along despite only meeting for the first time today.

Hara kept her thoughts to herself, but focused on what she should do, leading her to think the best idea was to talk to her older friend, Hyuna, who is in the same grade as her brother. She grabbed her phone and quickly texted her friend, asking if she could stop by her house after lunch, because unlike Taemin, she didn't have classes during the afternoon.

As the group finally sat down to enjoy a meal, Hara noticed some familiar faces approaching and quickly waved.

"Hani! Hyuna!" She smiled widely and went to their side, taking Hyuna's hand in hers and pulling the girls to the table the boys were at.

"Oh hi girls, it's been a long time, far too long." Jonghyun said teasingly while using his killer smile.

"Haha, very funny." Hani replied. She knew the boy since the day she met Hara, which had been 11 years ago, she knew Jonghyun was a complete player, yet despite this she also knew he was a really good and caring friend. Everybody knew they could trust him for anything.

"Watch it lover boy, Dawn wouldn't be pleased to know you were smiling at me like that." Hyuna said with a smirk, causing Jonghyun to chuckle, raising his hands and waiving them slowly before replying.

"Oh no! I'm so scared!"

Taemin laughed at his best friend's antics and smiled sweetly at the girls, sending them a silent welcome. They sat next to Hara who hugged them both as soon as she had the chance.

Onew was simply staring at the girls in confusion, Taemin noticed this and decided to introduce them. He scooted over to his side before speaking.

"That is Hani and Hyuna. They are Hara's best friends since she was about 5 years old. Hani is a huge geek, she loves everything from sci-fi to fantasy, so if you ever need a book recommendation, she is the one you should talk to." Hani smiled proudly at the introduction Taemin made of her. Turning to Hyuna, Taemin was about to continue, yet Jonghyun interrupted.

"Yeah and that is Hyuna. Now that we are done with this conversation, can we please eat?"

"Hey. You stupid player. That's all you've got to say to me? This rascal!"

Everybody chuckled and got up to get their food as Jonghyun and Hyuna kept on bickering with each other.

Once they finally noticed that they were the only ones that didn't have a plate of food in front of them they looked at each other and silently agreed to get up and rush to get some.

As they came back everybody was already eating and chatting quietly.

"Lee Hara, what kind of underclassman are you? You even start eating before I get here? Kids these days." Hyuna complained, pouting as she teased the younger.

"Sorry, but I was just so hungry, you forgive me right?" Hara replied with a wide smile on her lips, getting closer to her friend she held onto her arm and tugged on it slightly, acting cute to get away with such an offense.

"Fine, as much as I want to I can't get upset at an adorable face like yours. But I can do this." Hyuna before squeezing the others cheek somewhat harshly with a cheeky smile.

"Ow! Stop, that hurts!"

"Yeah, that's what you get for being such a good friend to me." The older laughed sticking her tongue out while Hara caressed the now reddish area of her face. The others were too focused on their food to even pay attention to the two girls, no matter how loud they were.

"BOO!"

Everybody jumped at the sudden loud male voice, Taemin even letting go of his metal chopsticks harshly, causing them to make a loud clashing sound against his tray. As they looked at the origin of the voice, they sighed, but nobody sighed louder than Hyuna, who proceeded to hit the boy.

"Dawn! Don't scare me like that, you want me to die?" Hyuna complained, still hitting the other lightly as she pouted.

"Sorry baby." Dawn laughed before cooing at his girlfriend and kissing her cheek. "How was your day?"

"Better now that you're he-"

"No, stop that right now. You guys are so cheesy, I think I am going to throw up. Cut that out." Jonghyun says, his face showing nothing but disgust, as he throws a piece of bread at Hyuna's face.

"Kim Jonghyun. Did you just throw a piece of bread at my girlfriend?" Dawn asked, glaring at Jonghyun.

"Oh c'mon man, I was just playin-" Jonghyun started, not scared but somewhat concerned he was about to get beaten up, nobody dared to mess with Dawn and his girlfriend as they both just had a dangerous aura, despite being two softies once you got to know them, if they allowed you to do so.

"You should have thrown it towards my mouth instead man! I haven't eaten all day, c'mon"

The rest of the meal carried on peacefully, everybody eating while chatting with each other. Hyuna and Dawn being cute towards one another, Hara talking happily with her friends, and the three boys making jokes amongst each other, strangely they seemed to share a weird sense of humour, the kind that wasn't really that funny to anybody else.

As Hara headed home with Hyuna to sort out the younger girl's mind, Taemin and the rest of the boys headed to the gym as they were about to have PE, only being able to go home afterwards.

Walking to class, Taemin couldn't stop thinking about that one boy from class, Minho. He felt as if he had to be careful, if even Onew whom he just met was aware of his blushing cheeks, he was sure others would be able to do the same at some point. Taemin had somehow always known he was gay, but he did not share that openly. The only people who knew were Jonghyun, Hara and Key, although Onew seemed to have figured it out already. He knew his mother would support him as the woman genuinely cared about him, but he wasn't so sure as to if his father would feel the same, if he had to guess he assumed the man wouldn't take it lightly. He did punish his son for wanting to dance. Why couldn't the boy just get out of his mind?

Jonghyun noticed that his friend seemed awfully distant, and so, decided to pat his back lightly.

"Hey Taemin, are you okay?"

"Hm? What? Oh yeah I'm fine." Taemin replied, giving his friend a reassuring yet small smile.

"You seem really distant." Onew added, both him and Jonghyun looking at the smaller with worried eyes.

"I'm fine guys, I promise, stop worrying about me." He replied, placing his hands on either of the boys shoulders. He wasn't lying, he was fine...he just needed to go home and rest.

The two looked at each other for a second and silently agreed no to push the matter any further.

"I'm just upset, I mean we are going to have PE and you know how much I hate it." Taemin added, making his way to the locker rooms.

"I don't..." Onew replied, doing some kind of a pout attempt, but it seemed awkward causing the pout to look a bit off.

"Well, the reasons Taemin here hates it are actually quite a lot, but mostly it's because the boys usually try to kick him out of the locker room and just keep staring at him, thinking he is a girl, and the teachers usually yell at him saying he is too weak." Jonghyun choose to answer before Taemin even had the chance to, a cheeky grin on his lips as he did so.

"Oh I see, well you have to admit you are way to pretty for a boy."

"I'm not pretty, I'm handsome! And I'm not weak, I just don't even try. Dancing is more my style, not chasing around balls like some dog. What's the point of doing that?!"

Both of the boys simply laughed at Taemin's statement.

"Well, you do have a point..." Onew said as he thought about it properly, his head a tad tilted as he did.

As they entered the locker rooms it seemed as if every boy was staring at Taemin. 'Here we go again.' He thought to himself with a roll of his eyes. Jonghyun and Onew gave the boy a reassuring glance before focusing on changing their own clothes and Taemin did the same, as fast as he could. He just wanted to get out of there, and so he choose to go check where the class would be as soon as he was ready. He looked at the board and looked for their class, and as he saw the word 'Exterior' he mentally growled. He knew if they were having class outside it would be something like soccer. 'Why do I even need this class? I don't need this to stay healthy, I already do exercise on my own.'

He walked outside towards the massive grass field and realised that the boy from before wasn't in the locker room, was he doing to skip class? Taemin sure wished he would too, but he didn't want his ranking to go down, so he just wanted to get it over with.

Disappointed he turned and noticed someone standing on the other side of the field, already doing warmups. He squinted his eyes to properly see who it was as the figured suddenly looked back at him, he could tell the person's eyes grew wide, but he failed to understand the reason as to why.

Out of nowhere a hand covered his eyes and he felt his back hit something hard. The person's breath tickled his ear and sent shivers down his spine, making him anxious.

"Hello, it's me~" the person whispered in his eyes and Taemin suddenly recognised the voice.

"Jonghyun, what the hell?!" He screamed and spun around to hit him on his chest. Jonghyun pretended to be hurt and fell to the ground.

"Oh Taeminnie, you hurt me so good~!" he replied with a cheeky grin, 'that fucking bastard thinks he is so good' Taemin thought, ready to punch the hell out of him.

The teacher suddenly appeared, and everybody gathered around at the centre of the field. He decided he would punish Jonghyun later.

As soon as he got close to the teacher he started doing roll call, when he was done he announced he was choosing two boys for team captain, Taemin was right, they were indeed playing soccer.

Dawn was chosen to be the first team captain, as for the second, the teacher looked around and finally stopped as he spotted Minho. 'Poor guy, being team captain wasn't easy, but going against Dawn was even worse.' Taemin thought as he unconsciously gave the boy a pity-like-look.

"You, kid, you will be the other captain. What's your name? Let's see what you're made of."

"My name is Choi Minho, sir."

"Well then Choi, please go to the middle with Dawn while I pick the other members for both teams."

As the teacher picks the rest of the dog-like-people, Taemin looks at the ground, not wanting to be picked. He didn't enjoy this kind of sports, they were too aggressive to his kind nature, and the teacher knew that, so he always left him to be picked last, as if it was a challenge, he wanted to see if the team could still win while having such a weight.

"Finally, Lee Taemin, go to Dawn's team."

Taemin walked to his side of the field, feeling every eye on him, judging him, tearing wholes in his body with their gazes. They already knew that he might cost them the game, and they hated him for it despite knowing Taemin didn't really have a choice. 'I'm just not good enough for anybody. They act as if I enjoy being this way.'

"Don't worry Taemin, everything is going to be fine." Jonghyun said as he passed by Taemin, walking towards the opposite side of the field. 'Great, even my best friend is playing against me, how could this possibly get any worse?'

Before the teacher blew the whistle, Dawn patted his back, wanting to comfort his friend.

The boys from Taemin's team started advancing, quickly dodging the other team, they had the best player after all. Despite this though, that boy, Minho, took the ball from Dawn and managed to score. Taemin's eyes widened, not comprehending how someone could be that fast, was he even human? He looked around, already giving up on the game, and noticed his whole team looked pissed as they desperately tried to score. He turned around to look at Minho once again, but before he managed to do so he felt an acute pain on his head.

Minho had noticed the opposite team looked very upset, thinking to himself that they were more competitive than he thought. The ball was rolling, he wanted to wait for the perfect opportunity to steal it back. One of his teammates was going for it but the member of the opposite team that had the ball rushed and kicked the ball far away.

He followed the movement and noticed the ball was about to hit someone, before he managed to warn the angelic boy, the ball had already hit him, causing him to fall onto the ground.

He quickly ran over to see if the smaller was okay, the sound of someone laughing in the background being too imminent. Minho knelt beside him to see if he was okay, only to find out he was unconscious. He looked around to see his classmates shaking their heads instead of helping, the teacher also being nowhere to be found. He decided he should help the boy, therefore he picked him up bridal style and started making his way to the nurse's office.

As he got there, he gently knocked on the door until he heard a faint "come in". Minho walked inside as the nurse turned to him, shock plastered in her eyes.

"What happened?" She asked, standing up quickly and walking towards the boys.

"He got hit by a ball on his head during PE." The nurse pointed at the bed, signalling for Minho to lay the smaller down.

Minho quickly did as he was instructed, placing Taemin on the bed carefully. After he did so the nurse assured him the boy was in good hands, telling him he should just go back to class. Before leaving he gave the boy one last glance over his shoulder, smiling to himself.

As Taemin woke up he felt his head spin. He placed his hands on his head and growled slightly, the pain he felt stunning him for a few seconds. Opening his eyes once if faded, he wondered where he was. Looking around he spotted Jonghyun by his side.

"What happened? Why am I here?" Taemin quickly asked, trying to sit up as he did. "Did you bring me?" He asked once he collected his thoughts and figured out he was in the nurse's office, the lady being nowhere to be found at the moment.

"You got hit by a ball remember?" Jonghyun answered as he helped his friend sit up. "And no, of course I didn't bring you, I was too busy laughing my ass off, you should know me by now."

"Wow Jjong, you're such a good friend, thank you so much for all your support." He rolled his eyes as he spoke, sarcasm marking every word. "But wait, if you didn't bring me, who did?"

"Your crush did." Jonghyun smirked as he spoke, wiggling his brows slightly, causing Taemin cheeks to blush slightly.

"H-he's not my crush! I just met him today, I couldn't possibly crush on him this fast!"

"Oh please, you're blushing. Taeminnie are you still going to lie to yourself and say you don't have the hots for that kid?"

"I-I don't! I'm just red from getting hit by a freaking ball in my face while you were too busy laughing to help me!"

Jonghyun wanted to flick the boy's forehead and tease him further but resisted the temptation to do so and simply nodded.

"Sorry, I'll make it up for you don't worry. I'll treat you to some ice cream, let's go."

"I can't Jjong, my parents are coming home today...and you know what that means, time to avoid everything that might make them angry. I need to be home by 5PM."

"Oh okay, good luck with that. If you need anything, just call me." Jonghyun says, changing his cheeky smile into a more solidary smile, rubbing his friends arm as to some give him some comfort. "We still have some time, why don't we go find that Minho guy?"

"W-what are you saying? You must've gotten hit a ball too!" Taemin replies, his blushing intensifying and his voice going up slightly before he hits his friend hard in the chest.

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say." Jonghyun shrugs, knowing perfectly well the guy was waiting outside, next to the school gates, wanting to check his cute best friend. He had seen him from the window and Minho kept staring upwards, checking his phone from time to time.

Jonghyun had brought Taemin's bags and clothes from the locker-room, therefore Taemin only needed to quickly change and they could be on their way. He might enjoy teasing his best friend, but he never forgot to watch over him as well.

As Taemin finished, they grabbed their bags and made their way outside. The two were chatting casually when Jonghyun spotted Minho by the gates, as expected. He elbowed Taemin's side, causing him to almost hit the other, until he saw the figure as well.

Upon spotting Taemin, Minho coughed and adjusted his posture.

"Hey." He casually said, giving Taemin a wide smile, which Taemin thought was the most handsome thing he had ever seen, which only made him want to hit his own head for even thinking something like that.

"H-hey." The smaller replied, mentally cussing himself for stuttering. 'Control yourself Lee Taemin!'

The two were staring at each other in a somewhat awkward silence until Jonghyun intervened, having had enough.

"Tae, I'll wait for you at the bust stop, take your time." He spoke, grinning as he did. Upon the mockery of his friend, Taemin decided to make a mental note, 'Kill Kim Jonghyun', and so he nodded, giving him a death glare nonetheless.

He turned back to face Minho, but before he could say anything, that bastard Kim Jonghyun planted a kiss on his cheek and ruffled his hair. Stunned Taemin looked back and hit his friend's back as he walked away laughing, his hands casually on his pockets, adding to his cocky aura.

Fixing his hair Taemin looked back at him, noticing that the boy was simply staring at him, his expressions tight.

"Was there something you wanted to tell me?" Minho replied, remembering Taemin was about to speak up but was rudely interrupted by the one he had already named 'cocky shit' in his mind.

"Oh yes, well I...I wanted to thank you. Jonghyun told me you were the one that brought me to the nurse's office."

"It's fine, don't worry about it. I assume Jonghyun is the guy that was just standing here."

"Yes, he's my best friend, although sometimes I just want to kick the hell out of him." Minho's mouth twitched slightly at the title the other had, until he hear Taemin laugh at the last part of his own sentence, covering his mouth with his fist, which caused Minho's facial expressions to soften.

"You're new to school, aren't you?" Taemin asked, he had been studying at the same school for quite some time and he had never seen the taller, he knew he wouldn't forget such a handsome face that easily.

"Yes, I came from Samcheongdong. I don't think we were properly introduced though. I'm Choi Minho, nice to meet you." Minho says as he sticks out his hand, waiting for the smaller to shake it.

"I'm Lee Taemin, nice to meet you too!" He replies, taking the other's hand in his and shaking it. Not used to that kind of greeting he tried his best to hide his shyness. "So, where do you live now?"

"I live in Daehangno" Minho replied.

"Really? Me too! I guess we're neighbours then!" Taemin replies excitedly, not able to hide the wide smile that threatened to escape his lips. He felt lucky for living next to someone so handsome. He quickly tried to calm himself, not wanting the other to catch on his thoughts, which Minho didn't as he was, just like Taemin, quite dense.

Minho hummed and gave the other a glimpse of his smile. "That's nice since I don't know anybody here."

A bit taken aback, Taemin stood in silence for a bit before he gained the confidence to ask what he wanted to.

"W-would you like to go home with me then?"

"Sorry, I can't, I have to practice but I'll walk you to the bus stop." Minho said, still smiling, despite being a bit disappointed that he couldn't take the others offer.

"Oh you play sports?" Taemin asked in genuine curiosity, he figured it was only natural looking back at how good the other was in class.

"Yes, I play a little bit of everything, right now I have basketball practice though. Maybe you could come see me some time."

Dazzled by the sudden invitation Taemin took some time to reply, but once he collected his thoughts he gave the other a smile and a nod as he spoke.

"I'd love that. Well, I better get going now or I'll miss the bus."

"I'll take you there, since I had to turn your offer down it's the least I can do." Minho replied.

"Oh you don't have to do that! You've done so much for me today I-"

"It's fine, I promise." As Minho notices Taemin's hesitation he adds "Please, I insist."

"Fine, but you to allow me to make it up to you some other time, deal?" He says as he crosses his arms, pleased with himself.

"Deal." Minho replies with a small chuckle.

They fall into step with each other as they walk towards the bus stop, walking slowly as neither seem to be in a rush to depart.

As they reach the bus stop, Jonghyun turns to them.

"Well it was about time, a few more minutes and I would leave without you." Jonghyun says, he doesn't live that far from Taemin so they can take the bus together, although Taemin has to leave three stops later than his friend. As Jonghyun noticed Minho he smirks. "But I'm guessing that wouldn't be a problem."

"Shut up Jjong." Taemin says in a husked voice, trying his best to shoot Jonghyun a glare, but failing due to his soft features.

Minho coughs as to interrupt the two, he had to leave for practice after all.

"I guess this is where we part, see you soon Taemin." Minho says with a smile, that according to Taemin's mind, could end wars.

"Y-yeah, see you soon." Taemin tries to say without stuttering, not being as good as he hoped at controlling it, 'old habits die hard' he thought to himself.

Once Minho leaves he then turns to Jonghyun, who is smirking like an idiot.

"Don't." Is all he says before they get on the bus that had just arrived.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed, please comment so I can get some feedback and improve my writing.


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